What is that? He said, "A record." She looked up. Of everything I've done here since I arrived, dated in case it's useful.
He came into the kitchen and looked at the pages without picking them up. She could see him reading the top sheet, the dates in September, the fever, the exact medications, and the schedule, the time she'd been up at night. You wrote all of this from memory, he said. I have a good memory for details.
He was quiet for a moment. Evelyn, I know it's not legal standing. I know it's not the same as Evelyn. He said her name again differently and she stopped.
He pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. He looked at the papers and then at her and then he said very simply, "I'm going to ask you something and I want you to take your time answering it." She waited. "I've been thinking," he said, about the petition, about what it's based on, about what a judge in Laramie is going to see when Harlon Hargrove puts this in front of him.
He put his hands flat on the table. The concern about the arrangement, the impropriety they're implying, it's not a concern if the arrangement is different. She looked at him. I'm not saying this the right way, he said.
Say it however you need to. He looked at his hands on the table. I'm not asking because of the petition. I want to be clear about that.
I'm asking because I've been trying not to ask for 2 months and the petition has made me stop pretending I have time for that. He looked up at her. I'm asking because when you came out of the front room with Caleb and faced Cecilia Hargrove, I watched you and I thought he stopped. Tried again.
I thought this is the woman who is actually here. This is the woman who stayed. She didn't say anything. I'm not a man who makes speeches, he said.
I'm aware this is not a speech. I'm aware it's a poor substitute for one. He held her gaze. Would you consider marrying me, Evelyn?
Not as an arrangement, as a real thing, because I think it would be real. The kitchen was very quiet. She thought about all the ways she could answer this. She thought about the practical truth that it would resolve the Hard Grove petition.